Will anti-social behaviour orders help young people to not break the law again?

Main activity
In groups, students make a list of their top five ways to prevent child criminals from breaking the law.

Suggestions include:

Imprisonment

Fines for their parents

Curfews

Electronic tagging

Corporal punishment

Community service

Make them meet their victims

For the top two punishments on their list they should state three points in favour of its use and three against. Then students write and rehearse a 3-minute sketch to illustrate how their most effective way would work in practice.

Are there any schemes that have been or could be set up in the local area?

Plenary
Recap on the main teaching points.

Can students reach a consensus for the tackling of youth crime.

Teachers' Background

70% of all crimes that affect ordinary people are committed by a small number of young men - almost all of whom began offending in their teens.

The options for dealing with young offenders are chosen from a scale linked to the severity of the crimes committed, they include;

Prevention schemes - the teams organise activities and supervision to keep the children away from drugs and criminality.

Community sentences - includes a meeting between victim and criminal or an order to carry out work to repair damage done. More than 5,000 reparation orders have been made since June 2000.

Intensive supervision - full surveillance of the offender through electronic tagging and personal visits.

Custody and training - in the year to March 2001 approximately 6,600 young offenders ended up on a Detention and Training Order (DTO) which aims to punish and rehabilitate in equal measure. A DTO can last between four and 24 months with half the time spent in custody and the remaining half in community rehabilitation.